


Miracles

by IceQueen1



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Brotp, Danny gets to keep his powers, Daredevil & Defenders Exchange 2020 Exchange, Friendship, Gen, Gift Fic, I use comic Danny powers, Matt gets to be an awesome mentor because he deserves it and so does Danny, Post season 2 Iron Fist, dde2020, post season 3 Daredevil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:20:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26227825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceQueen1/pseuds/IceQueen1
Summary: "Anything I would never want to lose will be lost. It is given that everything that is worth wanting will be lost the moment I obtain it.” — Osamu DazaiDanny wants to show Matt the new construction taking place over former Midland Circle. It goes better than either of them expect.Part of the dde2020/ Daredevil & Defenders Exchange 2020 Exchange
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Danny Rand
Comments: 20
Kudos: 75
Collections: Daredevil and Defenders Exchange 2020





	Miracles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vexfulfolly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexfulfolly/gifts).



> A gift for @vexfulfun on Tumblr, vexfulfolly here as part of an exchange - so sorry about the delay! My prompts were "Run To You" by Pentatonix: https://youtu.be/IWS9D8Z0mpc AND/OR Ghosts AND/OR “Yeah, mutants are a thing (and magic, too, apparently?), and so are aliens, but this… is just weird. I can’t explain this. What even was that?” AND/OR "Anything I would never want to lose will be lost. It is given that everything that is worth wanting will be lost the moment I obtain it.” — Osamu Dazai AND/OR Crossovers are fun!
> 
> And I was thrilled to get a chance to write Danny and Matt again, and I hope I did your imagination justice with the prompts!

“Look, I’m just saying – step – it’s a misnomer calling it a _hostile takeover_ if there’s no fighting involved,” Danny said, as they walked along the sidewalk, Matt’s hand resting on Danny’s elbow as the younger man continued to rant about corporate lingo.

“One, you know you don’t have to keep warning me about things like steps and doors, right?” Matt pointed out. “And two, there _is_ usually fighting involved, it’s just between shareholders and the company, or with management, and it’s generally verbal.”

Danny huffed. “I keep getting dirty looks from everyone when we go out and I don’t make you take my elbow, or announce that we’re at a crosswalk, or narrate everything we do. I’m not about to get yelled at again for being a supposed jerk for not telling the blind guy – who, going by the amount of bruises and scars on your face, has his share of accidents – where he’s stepping. So, unless you feel like fielding the next accusation about why I don’t hold doors for you, or get you a guide dog, or – or – whatever else it is I’m supposed to be doing for you, I’m going to keep telling you about things.”

Matt offered a crooked grin at that, grasping the end of his white cane in both hands, twisting the red grip idly. “Would it make you feel better to hold my elbow?”

“Actually, yeah – wait. No. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”

“If I was the one walking into walls, yeah. But you tripped over the last two curbs and seem to walk into more people than I do.”

Danny gestured emphatically at the cane. “Because you have a _stick_! That you swing around in front of you! Like a weapon! Of course people move out of the way. But I don’t have one, so they just walk into me!”

“You could always get a stick,” Matt suggested. “Except if _you_ do it, it would probably fall under the category of assault.”

Months after the showdown with Fisk, weeks after Danny and Ward returned from their impromptu trip through Asia on Danny’s quest to find out more about the legacy of the Iron Fist, it still felt…weird…to do normal things. For Matt to dole out justice in a courtroom, not in a dark alley. For Danny to actually try and navigate the slightly more treacherous new world of corporate management.

One of them was slightly more successful than the other.

“The Yakuza was more receptive to negotiations than these guys,” Danny complained. “I might feel differently if they - curb - were at least a _little_ nicer.”

“Where are they trying to build again?”

“Oh.” Matt heard Danny’s heartbeat change for a moment as he stumbled for an answer. “Um, Midland. Or what remains of it.”

The silence that fell between them was almost as tangible as his grip on Danny’s arm, and suddenly Matt was back at the bottom of a hundred tons of rubble, thinking it was his last moments on Earth, another statistic in someone else’s fight.

“Anyway,” Danny continued, pointedly optimistic, “after Midland collapsed, the city decided to sell the land again, and one of those huge corporations bought the property and they wanted to put in this huge high rise, like _Old_ New York style. Like the Flatiron building. Except they wanted all these restrictions on it, and they wanted to buy up a bunch of the property on either side so they could expand.”

“Let me guess,” Matt asked. “The buildings they wanted to put up were going to raise the prices on the buildings around _those_ , too.”

“And artificially raise the cost of living, like, ten fold because it was going to be new construction, neighborhood improvement, blah blah blah.”

“Is that the official wordage used?” Matt joked.

“Probably. I kind of tuned out after that.”

“End result?”

“Rand bought it. The same idea, except instead of making it all billionaire summer homes and high rises, eighty percent occupancy will be for low income housing, and for those affected by the loss of either jobs, or livelihood when Midland collapsed, and the Hand’s enterprises with it.”

Matt couldn’t help the smile at that. Danny was a bit of an oddity at the best of times - despite being the very model of a modern angsty Millennial when they first met, Danny seemed to have now found a balance in life that Matt envied. After he regained his powers as the Iron Fist through what Ward described as the International Road Trip from Hell, he was…happy. A far cry from the angry and impulsive kid who seemed capable of little else beyond reiterating that he was the sworn enemy of the Hand.

“And now they’re trying to short Rand stock so that they can buy the company out from underneath us, which I don’t really get, but Ward is kinda livid and I’m a little glad he doesn’t have super powers, but I think he’s picked up a bad honesty trait from hanging out with me too much,” Danny explained. “Curb.”

“I know there’s a curb, Danny,” Matt reminded him without irritation. It was actually kind of nice to have someone outside of just Foggy who knew he was Daredevil and remembered he was still blind. Karen still had a bad habit of forgetting, often showing him something she’d written, or pointing out a sign or asking about a TV show.

“You might be able to tell there’s a curb, but you can’t see the super judge-y looks from the woman who just passed us when I didn’t say anything about the last two.”

Matt smirked at that. “I promise to defend your honor should someone comment on it.”

“Aw, thanks, buddy.” How someone could sound sincere and sarcastic at the same time and be genuine in both, Matt would never know. “Anyway, construction is already underway, and fun fact - filling in a hundred foot hole even _with_ the remains of the last building collapsed down in it is ridiculously difficult and expensive and no guarantee that the ground would ever be solid enough to rebuild anything more significant than a park.”

Matt frowned. “So you can’t build on it?”

“Yes…and no. Door.”

Matt’s frown deepened as they were hit with the artificial cold of commercial air conditioning, the gentle _wssh_ of sensor powered doors sliding out of their way as Danny continued walking, their footsteps echoing off expensive sounding marble floors. “Uh, exactly where are we going? I thought you wanted to show me the site?”

“And we are. Aerial view. It’s hard to appreciate from ground level, and it’s almost sunset, and the lighting will be perfect.” Danny was so matter of fact that the last two things would actually make a difference to him, Matt wondered if like everyone else, Danny abruptly spaced on the fact that he was still _blind._

The _ping_ of elevator doors arriving echoed in the mostly empty lobby of whatever building they were in. Corporate, most likely, given they were almost across the street from the failed Midland Circle, and the fact that it was late Sunday would account for the lack of people.

“I accidentally found a sanctum in the South Village with a wizard doctor - who even knew that was an occupation?- who seemed really kinda surprised that I even found the door to his building…office?” Danny trailed off. “What _do_ you call the business front for a wizard?”

“You’re the closest thing I have to a magic expert,” Matt pointed out, ticking off the floors as the elevator continued to climb. Ten and counting. “If _you_ don’t know, _I_ definitely don’t know.”

Danny nodded seriously. “Good point. Anyway, I explained that it felt like K’un-Lun…and it just sort of drew me in. He said the magic might be similar. I guess…I was a little more homesick than I realized.”

Matt could almost _feel_ the wistfulness. Stick talked about K’un-Lun when Matt was young, describing a mystical other world where dragons still lived, magic existed, and the monks were embroiled in a timeless battle between Good and Evil. To ten year old Matt, it sounded amazing. A real life fairy tale where only the Good were allowed. Where fathers weren’t murdered in back alleys, and blind orphans weren’t shuffled aside by a system that knew they would never be adopted. 

As Matt grew older and learned the price of paradise was agreeing to be a soldier in a war that wasn’t his, the magic of the fairy tale wore off. If misery was the price to pay for autonomy, he would take it. When he met Danny, it only cemented his belief it was less _paradise lost_ and more _cult,_ and he struggled to understand what Danny missed about it. It wasn’t until he had a very frank conversation with Foggy that his friend pointed out things hardly needed to be perfect for you to miss them. Fucked up family was still family; broken home was still home.

Less than perfect as it was, Matt still missed his life at the orphanage - though that had more to do with missing Father Lantom than anything else. He didn’t know if there was an equivalent for Danny back in the fabled city.

“Did he help?”

Danny must’ve zoned out, because he first questioned, “Who?” before immediately answering his own question. “The wizard? Yeah. He said you had issues with…aliens?” When Matt nodded, Danny did little more than shrug, because when you punch out the heart of a dragon for super powers in a magic immortal city, you lose the right to consider other things far-fetched. “Anyway, he used his magic to stabilize the ground, but advised that for building purposes, we leave the middle area open. Build around the outside so that the center was more like a park area.”

When Danny didn’t continue, but the elevator continued to rise - 15 floors and counting - Matt couldn’t help his curiosity. “Danny…not that I don’t enjoy our time together, but why exactly did you want to meet with me? You don’t seem to need legal advice - criminal or otherwise. And what are we doing uptown from the financial district, anyway?”

“I told you, the view is better.”

“Hate to break it to you, but the view really isn’t going to matter that much to me,” Matt tried to point out lightly. “No matter how spectacular the sunset.”

The elevator came to a halt - 20 stories, even - with a _ping_ and the swish of opening doors. The sudden rush of fresh air surprised Matt - most elevators didn’t go to the roof without some sort of emergency bypass, and even then, few buildings even had the cars go that high. The last floor was usually stairs.

“Come on,” Danny urged, bumping his elbow against Matt’s as an invitation to take it, which he did without protesting because now he was curious - and still confused as hell.

Their feet crunched on gravel as Danny led him forward toward the raised barrier of the roof. The final rays of the sun hit Matt’s face, and he could tell they were facing north, which meant back toward the remains of Midland. He tried to think if he knew which building they were in, but came up empty.

“Okay, so you could see at some point, right?” Danny asked. “You weren’t blind from birth?”

“My accident was when I was nine.”

“So if I described what we were looking at, I can use colors and you’ll know what I mean? There was a woman in K’un-Lun who was blind since she was a baby - didn’t remember ever being able to see - and I had to use temperatures.”

Matt smiled softly at the gesture. “Yeah, Danny. I remember colors.”

“How far does your radar work? Like, can you tell what the city skyline looks like from here?”

Matt hedged at that, cocking his head to the side as he listened to the city below. “Not…really. There’s not enough sound for me to tell in detail. That’s what I was trying to tell you about in the elevator.”

Danny didn’t trip like most did when Matt pointed out his limitations, and he waved his hand dismissively. “I just wanted to know how much detail I should give.” And then proceeded to describe in minute detail the view they were overlooking.

Whether Danny realized it or not, the way he moved his hands when describing it helped more than anything. With Matt’s grip still lightly on the younger man’s elbow, he could tell exactly where he was pointing, the shape of the buildings against the sky, what he would be looking at if he could see.

“Do you…miss it?”

The question was so abrupt and out of the blue that Matt wondered if he’d somehow tuned out part of the conversation. “Miss what?”

Danny paused, and for the first time since they’d met up at Matt’s office that afternoon, he seemed nervous. Not _nervous_ , Matt mentally corrected, shifting his grip on Danny’s elbow as he felt Danny shift on his feet. Unsure?

“Colors. Being able to see like you used to.”

Matt almost laughed, because he wasn’t sure what else to do, except Danny seemed so…he wasn’t sure how to describe it. Like…like he was trying to gauge Matt’s reaction to something before he asked it. Which was strange, because Danny was nothing if not blunt. It was odd, and sort of liberating to have someone talk so openly about his lack of sight. Foggy had known him long enough that most of their interactions were second nature. Others waffled between being overly helpful and forgetting altogether. And then the third kind - the ones who so steadfastly refused to even look at him, to reply in tinny falsetto lies that ‘oh, I didn’t even notice’, or would openly stare thinking Matt couldn’t notice them. Even without his ‘vision’, their open gawking made his skin crawl.

“Yeah…yeah, I do. I think,” he tapped the end of his cane absently, “I think I’m not supposed to say that, but yeah. I do. I know I couldn’t be who I am without the accident, but…I miss little things about it. It’s been so long that I wonder if I remember things the way they really are.”

Danny was quiet for a long moment, his fingers fidgeting absently with the cuffs of his hoodie sleeves. “What if…what if you could? See again, I mean.”

Matt didn’t bother to hide the sad smile. “I learned many years ago that wishing for miracles didn’t make them happen. Besides…my luck?” he tried to joke. “I’d probably get my vision back and only be able to see the worst colors - like chartreuse and whatever shade Foggy keeps calling ‘baby shit brown’.”

“No, seriously. Would you?”

He sighed. “There’s a quote that Stick told me when I would get…upset. When I wanted something more than what I had. It was from a man named Osamu Dasai - ‘Anything I would never want to lose will be lost. It is given that everything that is worth wanting will be lost the moment I obtain it’. It doesn’t do to dwell on _what ifs_ and _I wish_. I can’t see. End of story.”

Danny huffed, a note of frustration seeping into his entire demeanor as Matt felt the muscles flex beneath his grip, though he wasn’t sure why - or what - was causing tension. “I’m sorry. I’m not asking this the right way, and I don’t know how to fix it,” Danny apologized. “This might sound really weird, but…can I show you something?”

The emphasis was on the word _show_ , like he meant it as more than just pointing out the skyline, and Matt’s knee jerk reaction was to decline, but an inner voice that suspiciously like Father Lantom reminded him he was supposed to be working on trust issues. This was _Danny_ . He _knew_ Danny.

“Sure?” Wow. _That_ sounded convincing.

He could sense Danny hesitate next to him, but before he could say anything else, he could _see_.

Not _world on fire_ , but actual, honest to God Himself, _see_.

The New York city skyline rose before them, outlined against the most brilliant sky Matt could ever remember seeing. The setting sun ignited the afternoon rain clouds in brilliant reds and golds, the sharp contrast of the deep blue of the scattered patches of sky. The buildings alternated between the dark, midnight black of shadow and liquid gold highlights where the fading sun hit.

He could see the river.

He could see the street below.

He could see the park Danny described, the construction of the new brownstones already underway and he damn near giggled when he realized that _yeah, the view was better from up here_.

He could see the spire of the Chrysler building, stretching into the sky above that was already changing colors.

He could **_see_ **.

And he almost forgot to breathe.

“How…?” Matt turned to look at Danny except…the world didn’t shift with the motion of his head. It was like he was still staring straight ahead.

 _Sorry_ , Danny’s voice echoed strangely, sounding truly apologetic. _Your eyes are too damaged - the scarring is too old. This…this is what_ **_I_ ** _see_. His voice wasn’t spoken aloud. It was more like…internal thought. What the…?

Matt’s view turned, as if _now_ he was moving his head, and jumped back in surprise. He was looking _at himself_. But as jolting as it was, it was…there wasn’t a word for it. Or if there was, Matt didn’t know it, because his entire knowledge of the English language up and vanished, overpowered by the idea that by means he couldn’t even begin to understand, _he_ _could see._ The how of it was irrelevant and he didn’t want to know, afraid it would just be a dream.

 _I used to do this with animals,_ Danny confessed quietly. _K’un-Lun wasn’t really a place you could escape from if you needed…space. And then one of the monks told me we could see through the eyes of others. And more than anything, some days…I just wanted to fly away. So I used it with the hawks and the eagles that lived in the mountains_.

“Danny this….” Matt struggled for words, for anything to fit the swell of emotion that threatened to cut off air. “This is….”

_Amazing. Beautiful. Wondrous. Staggering._

“ _Miraculous_.”

Because there was no other word for it.

Danny didn’t answer, and they watched the sun set in companionable silence.

It wasn’t until he felt himself shiver that he realized how much time passed.

“We should probably go,” Matt pointed out. As much as he wanted to stay, to keep this sight forever, it wasn’t his. And remembering what he did about Danny’s use of the Iron Fist powers, this had to take a toll on his energy, too.

In the blink of an eye, the world on fire returned - the familiar roiling gold illumination igniting his vision once more - and he felt Danny stagger next to him. So he _was_ right to assume it didn’t come without a price.

Such were the costs of miracles.

“Sorry I can’t make it permanent,” Danny apologized, and the arm that Matt grip raised slightly to brush at something on his face, and Matt heard him sniff. “But I hope…I wanted some way to say thank you.”

Matt frowned at that, trying to remember what he’d done for Danny that could possibly justify the gift he just shared, and coming up empty. “For what?”

When Danny answered, it was with bone-deep exhaustion lacing every word. “For trusting me. At the end. Everyone has always looked at me like some kind of…wreck waiting to happen.” He laughed softly at that. “I guess I deserved most of it, huh?” Danny paused again, and Matt felt him sway on his feet next to him and wondered if he was going to have to call Ward to come pick them up, or if Danny would make the walk home. “No one ever had faith in me. Not like that. And I wanted a way to show you how much it meant to me. Sorry for tricking you into coming up here. I’m not very good at surprises.”

Now it was Matt’s turn to chuckle. “Don’t sell yourself short. I _definitely_ didn’t see that coming,” he joked, and Danny automatically added ‘ _ba dum bum, swish’_ at the terrible pun. He started moving them back towards the elevators. Getting a ride from street level would be infinitely easier than trying to get one from a rooftop. Danny’s feet dragged in the gravel, too tired to pick his feet up all the way, but trying valiantly not to lean too hard on Matt.

As they began their descent, Matt idly counting floors as they passed, Danny leaning heavily against the elevator wall, the younger man broke the quiet between them. “Why did you?”

“Hmm?”

“Out of all of us…why trust _me_ to protect your city?”

“I thought I was about to die. Seemed like a pretty good idea at the time,” Matt joked, allowing a small grin so Danny knew he was kidding.

“Seriously though,” Danny pressed, genuinely curious. “Between Luke, Jessica and me - I was the one who let my temper get the best of me and literally opened the door for the Hand. _I_ wouldn’t have picked me.”

Danny’s tone begged a serious answer, and Matt could tell he’d been wondering this for a long while. And if what he said was true - which Matt knew it was - that everyone always expected Danny to fail, why would the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’s last request be to the person no one thought would succeed. To be honest, Matt thought long and hard about what was going to happen at Midland. Luke and Jessica had enough personal problems, enough of a jaded perspective of the world, that Matt doubted they wanted to tangle with a neighborhood that wasn’t theirs. Not that he didn’t think they would try, but it felt like handing an anchor to a drowning man.

And yes, Danny was reckless and moody and belligerent and _god so stubborn_ , but at the same time…he looked at a war that had been going on for hundreds of years and said ‘Yeah. I can take care of this.’ He wanted so badly for them to be a team, to work together and share the burden of saving the world and while at the time it was one of the most frustrating things in the world, it was also…hopeful. Danny _wanted_ to save the world. He didn’t look at it like it was an unwanted chore, he looked at it like -

“Because you still thought the world was worth saving. And because New York was your home, once. And I wanted it to be again.”

The elevator doors opened, and Matt reached for Danny’s elbow again. “Let’s see if we can find you a buffet or something.”

Danny’s sneaker caught on the edge of the elevator threshold, making him stumble. 

“Door,” Matt offered, unhelpfully, as he caught most of Danny’s weight. 

“Man, you _suck_ at this.”

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely used a lot of comic Iron Fist powers, sort of crossed with the TV series (which alluded to a bunch of things, but never actually addressed them - like the reason Danny can run around barefoot in NYC in the cold is because he's got a really high tolerance for heat and cold, or that he can share a consciousness, etc). Also, a lot of Matt's descriptions and the way that Danny escorts him around are based on conversations and experiences with my blind friends - except I'm a little worse than Danny because I do tend to forget they're blind and their guide dogs judge me harshly when we trip over things because I am not paying attention. And I just really, really like the idea of Matt and Danny getting a chance to be friends, because season 2 Danny would be good for post season 3 Matt - and Matt and Danny are the only ones of the Defenders who can honestly just shrug and be like "not the weirdest thing I've seen/heard/known/done". 
> 
> As always, feel free to come find me on Tumblr as @disappearinginq! And of course, thanks to @sholio and @gaelicspirit for helping me out when I got stuck and giving it a sanity check. You ladies are amazing!


End file.
